According to the Innocence Project, 11% of those exonerated by DNA in the recent years, entered a guilty plea. The true numbers of innocent people who pled guilty is hard to estimate as most of them will never be able to challenge their convictions. While plea bargaining plays a major role in the US Criminal Justice System, it does not always work as intended. In many cases, prosecutorial and police misconduct results in an innocent person entering a plea agreement out of fear that they may get a worse punishment if they go to trial.

In felony cases, those plea deals can still result in prison sentences. In cases of innocent people pleading guilty to misdemeanors, the repercussions still cut deep, from paying hefty fines to facing insurmountable hurdles to getting work and securing housing to hindering child custody.

Join us for a panel & discussion on America’s Guilty Plea Problem. Our panelists include victims of the wrongful plea bargaining as well as attorneys & researchers.

Location Information:New Building - New Building (View Map)524 West 59th Street New York, NY Room: L61

Other DetailsCo-sponsored by JJ Psychology Department and the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice